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Spartina pectinata

Common name:	Prairie Cord Grass	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	Link.	Botanical references:	43, 200, 236
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	N. America - Newfoundland and Quebec to Washington and Oregon, south to North Carolina and Texas.
Habitat:	Shores and gravels[43] and in marshes and sloughs[162]. Usually found in freshwater marshes, though extending into saline marshes near the coast[236].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	S. michauxiana[B,P] S. pectinata var. suttiei[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Freshwater Cord Grass [B], Prairie Cordgrass [FEIS,H,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	pectinata = comb like;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.8m. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from May to July. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist or wet soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Bog Garden.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Thatching.

The culms are much used for thatching[162, 257].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in fresh or salt water marshes and in ordinary garden soil[162]. Prefers a deep rich moist soil in sun or light shade[200].
Plants have an invasive root system[233].

Propagation

Seed - sow in a greenhouse in spring and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Plant out in the summer if sufficient growth has been made, otherwise overwinter them in a cold frame and plant them out in the following spring.
Division in spring.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[162] Grounds. R. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm 1989 ISBN 0-7470-1219-9
Cultivation details of many of the grasses and bamboos. Well illustrated.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[236] Hitchcock. A. S. Manual of the Grasses of the United States Dover Publications. New York. 1971 ISBN 0-486-22717-0
A nice and comprehensive flora, though a bit dated. Good line drawings of each plant, plus a brief idea of the habitat and a few notes on plant uses. Not for the casual reader.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Spartina+pectinata
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Spartina+pectinata

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